Start-Up businesses

5 ways technology will save you cash in those initial stages of business

Starting out as a new business can be tough. Expenses, maintenance cost, staff wages and more, all amount to a looming big number of cash you’ll find difficult to keep hold of. Luckily there are ways to reduce these costs, and the growing importance of technology can help with this. Thanks to the growing networks of technology now available, there’s an app or a type of software out there that tends to almost every function imaginable- in a much more budget friendly way. Here are 5 of the ways in which technology will save you cash in those initial stages of business when starting out;

1. Business travel is one of the main sources of business cost! Keeping track of your outgoing and incoming finances is crucial in staying afloat as a business. Organization is key, so make sure you’re aware of any money coming in, any money that hasn’t paid and vice versa. Expensify is a smart and efficient app that takes the stress out of calculating the expenses for business travel. Presenting you with an expenses report as well as being able to track your spending via GPS technology, you can connect the app to your credit card or bank account! This app is also free- making it very worth while your time.
2. Face to face meetings cost you crucial time. More often than most, video conferencing is the preferred alternative for everyone concerned – it enables you to fit in a meeting without the hassle of travel and losing time. Make sure you’re using a free video calling server- there are many free videos calling service available, such as Skype, Google Hang Outs or freeconferencecalling.com. All of which let you have that important meeting – whilst staying behind your desk.
3. Get familiar with budget friendly SEO tips that won’t require a brutal denting to your bank balance. Search Engine Optimisation is frequently used to promote businesses across the internet- enabling smaller business that aren’t aided by a massive budget, to achieve a higher ranking on search engines by simply using a few tricks of the trade. An important point to remember is the importance of quality content! With great quality content you’re demonstrating your value to customers, and effectively presenting them with something that will keep them coming back for more. In addition, keywords are also a great way to divert traffic towards your businesses website! Keywords are what search engines will pick up on, so choose wisely and make sure you’re meta titles aren’t too clumsy and long, remember to be concise, short but informative.
4. Set up your website on WordPress and you’ll cut the costs of hiring a web designer, coder and all sorts of other hefty costs. WordPress is a smart Content Management System – and not just for bloggers – but for businesses too. Set yourself up on a decent server first of all to make sure your site runs smoothly (you can find reviews here which might be helpful if this is new to you) and then choose a premium theme (don’t go for a free one as they can be a little generic looking) to personalise your website. The money it would cost you to do all of that with a web designer of development would be in the thousands, so you’ve definitely saved money here.
5. Potentially the most obvious tip, however no less important, is the way the in which technology makes paper costs unnecessary. With the rise of technology and media, virtually every company loyally stick to communicating via email rather than through letters. Not only does it save you ink and paper, it’s also a great deal faster and comes with a lot less hassle. E-books and online reports also save you from incurring a massive cost that simply isn’t necessary. Try and avoid producing paper documents as much as you can, and you’ll seriously notice the difference in saving.
6. Open source software. Embrace the wonders of Cloud software, like so many business who have saved much needed cash by making use of this easily accessible medium to access data for employees. Cloud brings with it flexibility, improving efficiency and productivity, by allowing employees to access the database where they are only requiring an internet connection to do so. The main advantage is of course the lowered IT costs- Cloud software won’t require any of the hardware costs that come with the maintenance and upgrading.